Is falling/crashing really this common?

[u/Careless-Comedian176]

I see so many threads about their first fall/crash and i'm really starting to wonder if I get a skewed perspective on how common this is? The attitude in these threads is also like they treat as you will crash serveral times before you get the hang of it. This feels weird to me and of course there's always a risk of an accident but I don't know anyone that has crashed, including my parents and their friends who have been riding for 35 years +.

I want to add that I live in Sweden and they have pretty advanced requirements before you get a license. I don't know if it's more uncommon than I think or if it's because other countries have lighter regulations and thus doesn't give you proper instructions on how to handle your bike in certain situations?

[u/Nervouspotatoes]

1.2 million riders in this sub, 24k active rn. This is the place people come to talk about their crashes etc, there’s a tremendous statistical bias. It’s not as common as it seems here, if you’re safe about it.

[u/LippySteve → u/Nervouspotatoes]

This is what I pointed out to my wife. I live in a very popular motorcycle area with no helmets required. Everywhere we drive as a family we see dozens of riders every single day most wearing no gear with a helmet or just no gear at all. We have about 15 fatal motorcycle accidents per year here with over 30,000 registered motorcycles in the county. Of those 15 about 13 of them usually were drinking, wearing no helmet, excessively speeding, had no endorsement etc.

Is motorcycling dangerous, absolutely. Is it the death threat most perceive it to be for a guy like me on a big sports tourer wearing full gear and going 10mph over the speed limit riding rural roads avoiding inner city intersections, not really. It's probably comparably dangerous to mountain biking in my case and I'm okay with the risk. Took a giant life insurance policy in case the worst happens.